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Alexis Davis's avatar

City of Thieves is a WWII fiction that sticks out in my brain. Can 10th graders read Things Fall Apart because that book shook me. I love the idea of speed dating books in a classroom!!

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

My 10th graders read Things Fall Apart in their English class. I teach a big unit on African resistance to European colonialism to prep them :)

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Alexis Davis's avatar

Amazing!! I came to it much later in life. I wonder how it would have hit with 10th grade me.

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Adrian Neibauer's avatar

What a great activity to do with nonfiction picture books! Thanks for sharing.

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

The key is lots of different books on the same topic, so it works for WWII...not so much for King Leopold's genocide in Congo :(

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Marissa Gallerani's avatar

I read Number the Stars in elementary school! And my mom and I went to a mother-daughter book club about it!

Also, my *other* favorite book in elementary school was WWII related. It's called Bat 6 by Virginia Euer Wolff. It takes place in Oregon a few years after WWII, but deals with the direct fallout. It's about two opposing girls softball teams, and is written in their voices. 10/10 from me.

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

I've never read that one! I'll have to check it out

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Susan Dugdale's avatar

I read lesson plans like this and wish I could be in class again! Love it.☺

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

I also wish I could go back to school! I'd be such a better student this time around :)

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Adam's avatar

Great idea! I've never heard of doing "speed dating" with books before.

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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

The name is a cheap gimick, but I'll resort to cheap gimicks all day long if they get my kids reading :)

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May 15, 2024
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Jenna Vandenberg's avatar

It was such a peaceful teaching day too. We history teachers don't get nearly enough SSR time!

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